The Psychological And Physical Aspects Of Hypnosis Philosophy Essay

The Psychological And Physical Aspects Of Hypnosis Philosophy EssayIn this essay I am going to look at what hypnosis is. I leave look at the definition of the word hypnosis and how it relates to the exercise of hyp nonherapy. I bequeath then(prenominal) go on to look at the history, deporting sort outicular fear to Franz Mesmer and James construction. We will look at the difference between hypnosis and meditation and the common myths surrounding hypnosis. And as well the material effects hypnosis substructure cod on affected roles.Hypnosis comes from the Greek word Hypnos which means to sleep. Hypnosis is a tell apart of relaxation where the recite of aw atomic number 18ness is elevated by suggestion. Forms of hypnosis produce been routined as long ago as forth century BC, with evidence to support it being utilise by the ancient Greeks and Romans.We will now look at Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 1815) who was born in Iznang, Ger more. Mesmer originally studied medici ne, where he published his doctoral, On the influence of the planets on the Human Body. The dissertation discussed the relationship between the human body and disease in relation to the moon and planets. Although this was later thought to be plagiarised from the work of Richard Mead (1673 1754)In 1768 Mesmer married rich widow Anna Maria Von Posch and moved to capital of Austria, where he began his work on what he would later call savage magnetism.Mesmer had always been convinced that he had more magnetic power than most masses, and so could work the cures wear out(Waterfield, 2004 88)Mesmers work with Franziska Osterlin in 1774, involved her swallowing iron and then placing magnets on the different parts of her body. The patient claimed to tactile sensation fluid flowing through her body and several hours later her symptoms had gone. Mesmer however did non guess that this was delinquent to the magnets alone and that it was the animal magnetism that had in fact relieved her of her symptoms.By 1776 Mesmer was surrounded by a scandal after he attempted to restore the vision of Maria Theresia Paradis, a musician who had been blur since birth. Mesmer attempted to restore the musicians sight but subsequently she lost all ability to play the quietly and was acknowledgen away by her p atomic number 18nts and Mesmer was then under speculation of using magic. Mesmer then left Vienna and moved to Paris where he started a checkup practice. Whilst in Paris Mesmer worked with individuals and groups, by 1780 Mesmer had too more patients and on that pointfore used a treatment called baquet where he would treat up to 20 people at a clock.In 1784 and at the request of King Louis XVI a series of experiments were conducted by members of the cleverness of medicine to distinguish if Mesmer had in fact discovered a new physical fluid. However there was no evidence to prove this and that it was in fact down to the imagination. Mesmer died in 1815 of a stoke and in h is last 20 years no one knows of any further work that Mesmer may have done.Alexandre Bertrand (1795 1831) work was of huge significance to the history of hypnosis. He did not agree with Mesmers theory of a unavowed fluid and believed that it was the art of suggestion.James Braid (1795 1860) began working on his own method of mesmerisation after witnessing a demonstration which showed subjects going into a physical state kind of different to their normal behaviour. After a lot work Braid changed his theory of it being a sleep-based physiological theory to a psychological theory. Braid believed that hypnotism was a nervous sleep which could be inflicted by staring at a saucy object, although much later Braid stated that only a small minority could be change (only 10%.) Braid used the word hypnosis which led to much confusion as people believe that they would in fact be asleep, Braid did try and later re-name this to monoeidism but people continued to use the word hypnosis, whi ch is what it is still referred to today. Later Braid stopped using bright objects after realising that he could progress to the same outcome but by talking to his patients with suggestion.He distinguished the shallow and deep phrases or layers of the trance states the first he called sub-hypnotic and claimed that it was this that the electro-biologists could produce the second he called the double conscious, because he found his subjects to be dissociated (as we would now say) from their normal states.(Waterfield, 2004 203)A strong follower of Braids work was Ambroise-Auguste Liebeault (1823 1904) who was the founder of the Nancy School, also known as the Suggestion School believed that the verbal suggestion was a powerful tool in successfully treating medical conditions and believed that everyone could be hypnotized. Due to the controversy surrounding hypnosis and the difficulty in obtaining consent from his patients Liebeault gave his patients a choice. They could either pay f or the traditional treatment or consent to hypnotherapy which they could get for free, due to most of Liebeaults patients being poor many agreed to hypnosis, allowing Liebeault to continue to develop hypnosis.Many people have the incorrect belief that meditation and hypnosis atomic number 18 in fact the same thing however it is important to distinguish the differences. Whilst they do share resembling techniques such as visualisation and breathing, meditation is used to free the mind from conscious thought, whereas hypnotherapy is used for a specific outcome. Therefore whilst meditation and hypnotherapy both aim to relax the patient, hypnotherapy will then lead the patient through therapeutic suggestions. This technique can then be used to change the sub-conscious mind, e.g. telling a psyche who wants to quit smoking that smoking is bad for them. Hypnotherapy is a tool that can be used to deliver messages to the sub-conscious mind.There has been much research done on the physical aspects of hypnosis. A number of scientists who have done such research on this subject believe that there are no physical differences to being under hypnosis and those who are not. These scientists state that although the heart rate who slower this was the same for those who were in a relaxed state. However what has been found to be different is the brain activity. Electroencephalographs or EGGs are used to b roadsheet a persons electrical brain activity, the first recorded was in 1929 by Hans Barger. Brain waves look systematically different in people who as awake equality to those who are asleep, and people who are relaxed compare to those who are at full alert. Neurologists believe that the brain has two sides, the right side controls a persons creativity and the left is the logical control centre. Whilst under hypnosis, scientists have found that the left side of the brain has a reduced level of activity. There are four types of brain waves, beta, alpha, theta and delta.Beta brain waves are when a person is awake and fully conscious. Like I am now whilst writing this, I am fully alert and my conscious mind is in control.Alpha brain waves are what everyone has throughout the day. This is when a person day dreams or closes their eyes to relax. In alpha the subconscious mind is being more dominant over the conscious mind. A person is in a light trance, it is in this state that hypnotic suggestion can have effective results.Theta brain waves can be present when meditating, dream or being in the zone. The subconscious mind is totally in control. A hypnotherapist can take you to past experiences and where emotions can be found. Theta brain waves can also be present when doing tasks that a person does often. Such as driving home from work, its a journey that you are used to and know the roads well, but a person can bring themselves out of theta in these situations is order to drive carefully. It is quite common when going into theta on a familiar drive that y ou cant actually remember part of the journey.Delta brain waves are when we go into our subconscious and no other brain waves are present. Delta is what we experience when we are asleep. Most people do not fall asleep when they are under hypnosis, if this does happen then the client can come back into theta state where they can follow the suggestions given by hypnotherapist. If a client stays in delta then suggestion will not work and it will not be effective in the subconscious mind.There are many myths surrounding hypnosis, which still leads people to be dismissive of this form of therapy. This includes the popular belief that hypnotists have some sort of Special Powers and that they can use these powers to get their patients to do silly things, e.g. cluck like a chicken every time the door bell rings or to say or do something that they do not deprivation to do. This is not the case and everyone under hypnosis is in control and will not do anything they do not wish to do. If you are under hypnosis and someone tells you to do something that you do not wish to do you simply will not do it and it most cases it will actually bring you out of the hypnotic state. other myth is that people who have hypnosis are weak minded, it is true(a) that the best patients are those that have a creative imagination and are open to the idea of hypnosis will go into the relaxed state easier and deeper but it is true that everyone is suggestible and therefore it is not that it will only work on weak minded people. It is also a common belief that hypnosis can make a person physically stronger or a better athlete. However hypnosis can only enhance a persons existing physical capabilities. There are many more myths surrounding hypnosis which still leave people reluctant to try this form of therapy, these myths will only disperse once people fully understand what hypnosis is.